21st century schools are not just schools that offer modern curricula and interactive teaching approaches. They are also schools that embrace the challenges, which the new era brings, while demonstrating strong social and environmental responsibility. The global “green philosophy” has affected a large number of schools in Macedonia and, in that spirit, many of them organize local initiatives to raise the public awareness on this issue. One school however, took a few groundbreaking steps forward and initiated a project that no other school in the region has implemented.
Namely, Primary School “Vidoe Podgorec”, from v. Koleshino in Municipality Novo Selo, became the very first solar school in Macedonia, and the region. The Municipality of Novo Selo, together with the school, came up with this idea of constructing a photovoltaic solar system, which will allow the school to produce its own electrical energy, making it independent from the public power distribution system. The idea arose due to the fact that Novo Selo is situated in the South of Macedonia, where the days are very long and there is abundance of sunlight. Therefore, the solar system will provide the school building with energy throughout the whole year, as it functions not only in the presence of direct sunlight, but in mere daylight as well.
Following USAID PEP’s call for applications for the Renovation Component, the municipality decided to apply with this project proposal. As the school was previously renovated by the Municipality and it met all energy efficiency standards, creating the opportunity for the implementation of such an innovative idea, the project was approved. It included the construction of a photovoltaic solar system with a total nominal power of 9.2 kW. The system consists of 56 solar panels, mounted on the school’s roof and an electrical room, where all the necessary equipment is safely placed. This system transforms the solar energy into electrical energy and distributes it to the power consumers in the school. This allows all computers and lights in the school, as well as all other electrical appliances, and the outdoor lights in the yard and on the school sports pitch, to use stable and environmentally friendly electricity.
The Municipality of Novo Selo replaced all lights in the school with energy-saving lights that use led technology, as well as providing energy-saving outdoor lights for the yard and the sports pitch. In addition, a Novo Selo Education Fund was also established. This Fund will use the savings generated as a result of the PV system and re-invest them for the improvement of education in the municipality. This introduces a new dimension to the whole investment as it provides sustainability and creates funds for future projects in Municipality of Novo Selo, from which all schools in the Municipality will benefit.
With this investment, PS Vidoe Podgorec became an environmental pioneer in the region. At a time when a safe and stable power supply becomes a predominant factor in education, due to the increasing use of computers in the modern curriculum, rural schools, such as this one, are disadvantaged because of the unstable power supply network. However, even more importantly, the new technology opens an ethical question due to the considerable energy consumption. In such cases, the utilization of solar energy is probably the optimum solution as it is a renewable source and it generates so-called green energy, which produces absolutely no pollution and has no negative effects over the environment.
“There was a power loss recently, but the school was able to continue with the everyday activities thanks to the PV system. All the lights remained on, and the computers were powered. I had a very urgent need and it was critical that I use the computer at that time, and luckily I was able to do that because of our solar system”, said Valentina Popova, the school Director.
